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re: Our First Colorado Archery Elk Hunt - Public Land - Success!!! (added pics pg4)
Posted on 9/28/15 at 3:11 pm to bbvdd
Posted on 9/28/15 at 3:11 pm to bbvdd
quote:
And, the busted bow only adds to the story. Wouldn't be nearly as memorable/entertaining if he shot the bull right off the bat.
You know, we mentioned this on the drive back. It certainly worked out for the best because we were able to truly experience what the mountains had to offer and it was great being able to work a bugling bull.
1
Posted on 9/28/15 at 3:59 pm to dnm3305
Great hunt man. I was just ribbing you a little.
Pics of wife that you will punish because of his actions? LOL
Pics of wife that you will punish because of his actions? LOL
Posted on 9/28/15 at 4:10 pm to dnm3305
Posted on 9/28/15 at 5:06 pm to dnm3305
Wow what a story! I don't read long post most of the time, but I couldn't stop reading this.
I sure would like to hear how you found the place and the research that you did before the hunt.
Congrats on a great trip and thanks for sharing
I sure would like to hear how you found the place and the research that you did before the hunt.
Congrats on a great trip and thanks for sharing
Posted on 9/28/15 at 5:23 pm to Rebnbama
I started by finding out what hunt units were OTC non-resident eligible. That narrowed it down by about 50%. A lot of the better units are draw only that take years to have enough pts to have a realistic shot at getting pulled for. So we decided that just buying an OTC tag was the way to go being as that we wanted to hunt this yr. After reading a ton about elk habitat I knew we wanted to hunt a high elevation place that had tough access and was off of any main roads. A few key things that narrowed it down further-
-I looked up the harvest statistics and noted all the units that had the least number of tags sold but the highest success rate. That narrowed it down to about 10 realistic options
-I used the Colorado Hunting Atlas for two things. I was able to plot out exactly where BLM land was and private land was. This was very valuable for trying to find the right country roads/trails to take us deep into the mountains without going onto private property. I also downloaded a Colorado software update for my Garmin that broke this down even further from huntinggpsmaps.com. Secondly, this hunting atlas allows you to track migration patterns/corridors, summer herd concentration and winter herd concentration. We put all of this together and targeted a specific valley that funneled to there winter migration area.
-That basically narrowed it down to a few units and we went with the one that had the least number of muzzleloader tags sold in it the year prior, and because the terrain looked pretty wicked on google earth.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife is a great source that has links to tons of info including the hunting atlas mentioned above. Let me know if you have any other questions.
-I looked up the harvest statistics and noted all the units that had the least number of tags sold but the highest success rate. That narrowed it down to about 10 realistic options
-I used the Colorado Hunting Atlas for two things. I was able to plot out exactly where BLM land was and private land was. This was very valuable for trying to find the right country roads/trails to take us deep into the mountains without going onto private property. I also downloaded a Colorado software update for my Garmin that broke this down even further from huntinggpsmaps.com. Secondly, this hunting atlas allows you to track migration patterns/corridors, summer herd concentration and winter herd concentration. We put all of this together and targeted a specific valley that funneled to there winter migration area.
-That basically narrowed it down to a few units and we went with the one that had the least number of muzzleloader tags sold in it the year prior, and because the terrain looked pretty wicked on google earth.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife is a great source that has links to tons of info including the hunting atlas mentioned above. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 5:41 pm to dnm3305
Thanks for posting this.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 5:50 pm to fishfighter
Sure thing
Posted on 9/28/15 at 6:07 pm to dnm3305
Awesome, Id love to do a rifle hunt up there.
Maybe one day.
Maybe one day.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 6:37 pm to dnm3305
That's awesome, man. Great write up also. Congratulations.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 6:42 pm to kengel2
Really great read. I was in Bonners Ferry Idaho last week just checking it out, hiking and of course looking for hunting spots. They had locals bow hunting the Kaniksu National Forest, Selkirk Mountain Range made me jealous as shite. One person I talked to took seven years to get a moose tag. They have grizzlies there, cougars, mule deer, elk, moose, white tails, ducks, geese, eagles. Was packing a 380(open carry), they laughed and said I might want a 357mag. Saw mule deer and tons of whitetails. Just being in that environment was spectacular.
Hiked up to Pyramid and Upper and Lower Ball Lakes. Breath taking views.
Going up next year again. My friend wants to pan for gold.
Thanks for posting this best thing ever on here.
Hiked up to Pyramid and Upper and Lower Ball Lakes. Breath taking views.
Going up next year again. My friend wants to pan for gold.
Thanks for posting this best thing ever on here.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 6:45 pm to dnm3305
Great story and pics. Thanks for sharing.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 6:47 pm to LSULANE
quote:
Hiked up to Pyramid and Upper and Lower Ball Lakes. Breath taking views
Posted on 9/28/15 at 7:11 pm to dnm3305
Posted on 9/28/15 at 7:44 pm to dnm3305
Awesome post. The grand Mesa is out my uncles back window (he lives outside of Delta) thinking about trying OTC later this year.
Just an FYI a sheep rancher we know on the Mesa shoots about 300 black bear a year. They are like rats up there and the warden has green lighted him and his hands to kill them on site.
Just an FYI a sheep rancher we know on the Mesa shoots about 300 black bear a year. They are like rats up there and the warden has green lighted him and his hands to kill them on site.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 7:46 pm to Mid Iowa Tiger
quote:
Just an FYI a sheep rancher we know on the Mesa shoots about 300 black bear a year. They are like rats up there and the warden has green lighted him and his hands to kill them on site.
We only had one encounter with a bear, and I know he smelled us before he came to close. He was a giant, about 100 yards below us. Talk about get your blood pumping. He was sniffing around the exact area we had sat and glassed the day before. We knew we were in bear country and tried to be as careful as possible. Perhaps that's why so few elk tags were sold in this unit
Posted on 9/28/15 at 8:56 pm to dnm3305
So yall hiked 27.5 miles in 2 days and killed a cow on a pack in hunt. On top of taking a bogus bow hunting? Lol. Damn yall were hungry. Lol Outside of that, awesome post that I enjoyed reading. Great pics and write up. Nice that you even shared the screw ups because every trip is full of them. That's real hunting.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 9:27 pm to dnm3305
Just poking in to complement you on an awesome story.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 9:29 pm to Dodd
quote:
Just poking in to complement you on an awesome story
Thanks everyone for the kind words, appreciate it.
Posted on 9/28/15 at 9:47 pm to dnm3305
The more I read the more impressive the story is. This is the kind of hunt I want to hear all of the details.
Again like others have said - one of the best posts on the OB!
Again like others have said - one of the best posts on the OB!
Posted on 9/28/15 at 10:04 pm to dnm3305
Man, great post. I want to do something like this sooo bad, and sounds like your experience went almost exactly as planned (minus the shot hiccups). I've bookmarked this and plan on hopefully referring back to it soon
Well done
Would you do this trip again, or try somewhere else next time?
Well done
Would you do this trip again, or try somewhere else next time?
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